FILA, the international wrestling federation, has confirmed that Raphael Martinetti of Switzerland has stepped down as its president during its Executive Board meeting in Phuket, Thailand.

FILA Bureau member Nenad Lalovic of Serbia has been named as acting president. Lalovic currently serves as a member of the European Council of Associated Wrestling (CELA) as well as on FILA’s Ethical and Legal Commission.

A FILA statement indicated that “Mr. Martinetti hopes that this situation will help save wrestling… Mr. Martinetti also wishes plenty of success to Mr. Lalovic for the mission that now rests in his hands.”

FILA Vice President Stan Dziedzic of the United States has been selected by Lalovic as his assistant in the leadership of the organization. Dziedzic, a past USA Wrestling president, was a World champion in men’s freestyle wrestling.

Another decision reached by the FILA was to add three members to the FILA Bureau to participate in the effort to retain wrestling in the Olympic Games: Jim Scherr of the United States, Alexander Kareline of Russia and Pedro Gama Filho of Brazil.

Scherr is currently the Commissioner of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. He served as the CEO of the United States Olympic Committee and is a past Executive Director of USA Wrestling. He was a member of the 1988 U.S. Olympic men’s freestyle wrestling team and a three-time World medalist.

Kareline is a three-time Olympic champion and four-time Olympic medalist in Greco-Roman, and also won nine World Championship gold medals. He serves in the Duma, which is Russia’s Parliament.

Filho serves as the president of the Brazilian Wrestling Federation, which is the nation which will host the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janiero.

The FILA Executive Board meetings continue for one more day in Phuket.